Author:Geoffrey Miller
An intelligently provocative book about Darwin’s ‘other’ theory discusses the curious ways in which sexual attraction has influenced the evolution of the human mind.
Many aspects of the human mind remain mysterious. While Darwinian natural selection can explain the evolution of most life on earth, it has never seemed fully adequate to explain the aspects of our minds that seem most uniquely and profoundly human - art, morality, consciousness, creativity and language. Yet these aspects of human nature need not remain evolutionary mysteries.
Until fairly recently most biologists have ignored or rejected Darwin's claims for the other great force of evolution - sexual selection through mate choice, which favours traits simply because they prove attractive to the opposite sex. But over recent years biologists have taken up Darwin's insights into how the reproduction of the sexiest is as much a focus of evolution as the survival of the fittest.
Witty, powerfully-argued and continually thought-provoking, Miller's cascade of ideas bears comparison with such critical books as Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene and Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct.
It is a landmark in our understanding of our own species.
Intriguing... The discussion of the mind as a mechanism of attracting mates is fascinating
—— Washington Post Book WorldA refined, an intellectually ingenious, and a very civilised discussion of the possible importance of sexual selection for mental evolution
—— John Constable, Cambridge University , Psychology, Evolution, and GenderEntertaining and wide-ranging
—— NerveFlies in the face of evolutionary orthodoxy - proposed by Stephen Jay Gould and others - which suggests that cultures evolve on their own, separate from the evolution of the human mind
—— ObserverThoughtful, witty and vividly written
—— Richard Dawkinsdesigned to help people thrive during periods of change
—— Sunday Timesa motivational book to help you deal with change in your life
—— GuardianEffortlessly, elegantly, Tom Wolfe bestrode both fiction and non-fiction… a style at once objective, subjective, and hallucinatory
—— Andy Martin , Independent[Tom Wolfe’s] gleeful use of punctuation and italics, along with entertaining asides and neologisms that often quickly cemented themselves into the English lexicon, helped Wolfe stand out from other journalists
—— Guardian[Wolfe] made literature fun and bores don’t like fun
—— Freddy Gray , The Catholic HeraldA day-glo book, illuminating, merry, surreal!
—— The Washington PostTom Wolfe is a groove and a gas. Everyone should send him money and other fine things. Hats off to Tom Wolfe!
—— Terry SouthernNot simply the best book on the hippies, it is the essential book... The pushing, ballooning heart of the matter... Vibrating dazzle!
—— The New York TimesAn American Classic
—— Newsweek
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